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As the curtain comes up on the 2006
steeplechase season, the National Steeplechase
Foundation looks back on 2005 and notes where its
financial support ($134,601) was used to support
steeplechasing in a variety of ways.
Drug Testing - The NSF
dedicated $55,330 to the drug testing program
wherein the winning horse in each race, as well as
one or two horses selected at random at every meet,
were tested for forbidden substances. This program
not only protects the health and welfare of the
horses, but it also provides a level playing field
for all competitors. Also, for the first time
several horses at each meet were randomly selected
for pre-race blood tests that are designed to deter
the use of illegal “milkshakes”.
Racecourse Inspections
- The NSF spent $19,971 on this popular program to
enable course inspector Barry Watson to visit each
course on the NSA circuit, and to evaluate potential
new courses. Watson is very adept at providing
valuable tips and recommendations to race meet
directors, and his perceptive course condition
reports - appearing on the weekly overnights - are
relied upon by horsemen.
Amateurism - To advance
this important spirit, which many consider the
backbone of steeplechasing in this country, the NSF
dedicated $22,500 in support of seven Foxhunter
Races and two Highweight Amateur Races during the
season. It also created two new awards that will
honor the champion amateur riders on the NSA circuit
the Davies Amateur Championship will honor the
amateur rider who wins the most races during the
year and the Foxhunters’ Chase Award will honor the
amateur rider that earns the most points in that
popular timber series.
Public Relations - The
NSF authorized a $15,000 grant that was used to
underwrite the direct cost of a public relations
campaign during the 2005 Saratoga season, in
acknowledgement of the importance of maintaining a
steeplechase presence in Saratoga. It produces
heightened visibility in the Thoroughbred racing
community, not to mention 10 percent of
steeplechasing’s entire purse structure.
ARCA - The NSF approved
a $10,000 grant in support of the Amateur Riders
Club of America, in keeping with the NSF¹s mission
to ³foster national and international amateur sports
competition.² The grant was used to underwrite the
travel expenses of sending U.S. amateurs to compete
in Europe, and bringing European amateur riders to
the U.S. to compete in the Fegentri Race at the
International Gold Cup.
Americans at Aintree -
The NSF made a $5,000 contribution in support of the
April 29, 2005 gala that celebrated the numerous
attempts by Americans to win the English Grand
National for over 100 years, with special tribute
being paid to the two winning attempts: Jay Trump in
1965 and Ben Nevis in 1980, ridden by amateurs Tommy
Smith and Charlie Fenwick, respectively. In return
for its contribution, the NSF acquired ownership of
an eight-panel display extolling the virtues of the
English Grand National and the Maryland Hunt Cup;
the display is being exhibited at the National
Steeplechase Museum in Camden, S.C.
Research - The NSF also
allotted $4,000 in support of the ongoing survey
conducted by the Marion du Pont Scott Equine Medical
Center in its efforts to collect and interpret data
from all NSA race meets for the purposes of
pinpointing the causes of various equine injuries.
Advertising The NSF contracted with
Steeplechase Times to place a one-half page ad in
each of the 13 editions published in 2005, at a cost
of $2,800. These ads were an easily recognized
feature in the popular newspaper, and enabled the
NSF to educate the steeplechase public about its
work and accomplishments throughout the year.
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